Greyhounds losing skid hits seven with home ice setback

For a team that has struggled, managing the puck well becomes even more crucial.

For the Soo Greyhounds defensive zone turnovers proved costly on Sunday afternoon.

The Mississauga Steelheads took advantage of their opportunities en route to a 4-3 win over the Greyhounds Sunday at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

“Puck management cost us for sure,” Greyhounds coach John Dean said.

Confidence with the puck also appeared to be an issue for the Greyhounds in the game.

“Our guys worked hard, but clearly are holding their sticks very tight,” Dean said. “We didn’t have a lot of guys that wanted the puck on their stick.”

Dean added that the confidence issues were partially a product of the recent struggles of the team, which has now lost seven straight.

It was also a game in which the Greyhounds struggled to generate scoring chances against the Steelheads.

“We played into their two-one-two for the most part all night,” Dean said. “Pucks were kept to the perimeter.”

“Something we discussed was that they play a two-one-two and they have three forwards down very low on their forecheck and we can’t be slipping pucks to the middle,” Watson said. “They took advantage of it.”

“We didn’t manage the puck well enough in our own end,” Watson added.

Steelheads coach James Richmond agreed that the Steelheads capitalized on their opportunities offensively in Sunday’s victory.

“We created some turnovers and some bad puck management by then and were able to make good on it,” Richmond said. “In the first period, we missed quite a few good chances in the net-front area.”

For Mississauga, limiting the Greyhounds chances offensively was a product of the Steelheads system.

“(That’s) the way that we play,” Richmond said. “We are generally a team that has a low event game. We try not to give up too much though the neutral zone.”

After a scoreless opening period, Mississauga got on the board first as Zander Veccia took a back-door pass in close from Lucas Karmiris and beat Greyhounds starter Charlie Schenkel 2:57 into the second period.

The Greyhounds tied the game when Marco Mignosa took a pass in the left faceoff circle from Kalvyn Watson and beat Mississauga goaltender Alessio Beglieri stick side at 5:25.

Luke Misa gave Mississauga a 2-1 lead at 15:31 when he grabbed a turnover in the slot and beat Schenkel stick side. Misa got the puck after Veccia forced a turnover by Caeden Carlisle.

Just 1:14 later, the Steelheads took a 3-1 lead when Angus MacDonell got the puck from Adam Zidlicky and beat Schenkel high stick side.

The Greyhounds pulled to within one at 11:21 of the third when Kalvyn Watson skated into the slot and beat Beglieri high stick side on the first shot of the period for the Sault.

Misa made it a 4-2 game when he scored into an empty Sault net after a turnover with the Greyhounds on the power play at 19:12.

Watson capped off the scoring with 6.9 seconds to go when scored on a one-timer from the left circle on a pass from Kirill Kudryavtsev.

In his first game action since a 4-0 win over Mississauga on Nov. 25, Schenkel made 30 saves for the Greyhounds.

“He was great,” Dean said. “He hasn’t seen a true two-on-one or three-on-two or any true game-like play in months. For him to come in and be so steady the way he was and manage the puck the way he did was fantastic.”

Watson finished the day with two goals and an assist while Mignosa had one of each for the Greyhounds.

Bryce McConnell-Barker assisted on a pair of goals in the loss.

In addition to the two-goal day for Misa, Veccia had a goal and an assist for Mississauga.

Beglieri stopped 15 shots.

Richmond said the Steelheads, who improve to 7-4 since the trade deadline when they dealt veteran forwards Owen Beck and Luca Del Bel Belluz and defenceman Ethan Del Mastro, have been happy with the younger roster that will take them through the end of the season.

“They’ve really bought into the structure and the system,” Richmond said. “They guys are having a blast together and are really young. You get to teach them and coach them and they take it all in.”

Mississauga improves to 24-20-4-0 with the win and sit one point behind the Peterborough Petes for fourth in the OHL’s Eastern Conference.

The Greyhounds fall to 14-22-7-5 and are four points behind the Kitchener Rangers for eighth in the Western Conference after Kitchener dropped a 6-2 decision in Guelph on Sunday though the Rangers still have two games in hand on the Greyhounds.

The Greyhounds return to action on Thursday night on the road when they open a two-game trip in Windsor against the Spitfires. The team will then travel to Saginaw to take on the Spirit on Friday before wrapping up the week with a game against the Sarnia Sting next Sunday afternoon.

On the injury front for the Greyhounds, Dean said following Sunday’s game that he doesn’t expect any returns to the lineup when the team heads on the road during the week.

Rookie forward Alex Kostov was also injured in the third period of Sunday’s game and Dean said following the loss that the injury appeared to be significant.